Scientific Magic
by MissFaerieKaiti
Summary: Sakura, helping out Lady Tsunade, is testing magical items for a group of scientists. Will they come to the aid of future shinobi, or will they be banned for side effects? And what happens when Ino finds out about all this? No pairings.
1. Ring

**I'm kind of sort of reading this book that teaches you how to write better, and this was one of the exercises I did. I didn't think originally that I'd publish it here, but I figured why not? More chapters to come, and maybe a more original plot will develop! :o**

**Disclaimer: Mhm. _Naruto_ belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, and the idea is thanx to Gail Carson Levine's _Writing Magic_ book. ;3**

* * *

Sakura entered the relatively large room, uncomfortable with all the monitors attached to her and the scientists staring into the room through a one-way window. She was nervous, and was certain that with the monitors monitoring her heart rate, body temperature, and goodness knew what else, she couldn't hide that fact from them.

She approached the table and cleared her throat, preparing for a lot of talking, as they had warned her about.

Sakura picked up the silver ring, temporarily ignoring the other items on the table.

"It's kind of cold to touch, like most rings are when just sitting around," she began. "But my fingers are warming it up after a little while, the outside anyways. It's sort of small for my ring finger, so I'm putting it on my pinky. It's too big for my pinky – no, wait, it's shrinking to fit. I don't feel anything yet."

She knew little of what was supposed to be happening. All she knew was that she was testing magical items for some scientists who wanted to see exactly how it worked but obviously didn't want to try it on themselves and she was supposed to be telling them every single detail as she went along.

Cowards. She felt some of her nervousness draining away at the thought that she was doing something they didn't dare. Cha!

"The ring is molding slightly to fit my finger perfectly. My pinky went numb for a second to adjust to the coolness of the ring, but it's better now."

She felt funny. Energy zapped through her. She struggled to find the right words to explain it to the scientists.

"I feel like the ring is sending energy throughout my body," she said, talking quickly now. The ring seemed to be taking effect, and she wanted to make sure she didn't skip over any details.

"I feel a little light-headed. The energy doesn't feel bad or anything, though. Not particularly good, either, however. I'm becoming trans – no, wait, I'm invisible. I can't see myself anymore at all, though it didn't jump from visible to invisible immediately. I went kind of transparent first."

She knew they could see that taking place, but they had told her to include _everything_, so she did.

"The light-headedness has faded, and though I can still feel the energy coursing through me, it's crouched off a ways so that I probably wouldn't feel it if I weren't thinking about it so much."

She waited, having nothing more to say. A few minutes later, a voice sounded over some speakers in the room.

"Well done, Miss Haruno; thank you. Take the ring off now and continue talking to us."

Sakura obeyed, slowly slipping the ring off.

"It won't come immediately, a result of having shrunk to make a wonderful and comfortable fit. But it seems to know its job is over; it's returning to its original size and form. I can slip it off easily now. It's taking the energy with it, and more. The light-headedness has returned somewhat, and I'm feeling drained. Not enough to collapse," she added quickly. "Just enough that I'd like to rest on a couch, like how I feel after a minor training session."

She paused, then as an afterthought, added, "I'd also like a glass of water, but that probably has little to do with the ring."

She wondered if any of the scientists had given at least a glimmer of a smile at her statement. They had all seemed very serious and lacking any kind of sense of humor when she came.

A few more minutes of silence followed, then the voice sounded again. "We thank you for your time, Miss Haruno. Please replace—"

"May I keep the ring?" Sakura interrupted, then blushed for doing so but didn't take back her request.

Another period of silence followed. Then the voice grudgingly consented, "You may, on the condition you keep us posted for long-term effects should you wear it often. Please return tomorrow to test the other items here."

Sakura smiled happily and pocketed the ring, then moved toward the exit. "Thank you," she told them, and left.


	2. Lee

**So here's chapter two. I kind of debated whether it would be the second magic thingy or just Sakura chatting with someone, and the second idea is what happens here. =3 Will tomorrow come in the next chapter, or will the day last longer? Not even I know. xD**

**Disclaimer: I don't really have to remind you each chapter that _Naruto_ and its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto, and that the general idea belongs to Gail Carson levine, do I? Unless I feel I absolutely must, this's the last time I'll be saying it for this story. ;3**

* * *

"Sakura!"

Sakura turned at hearing someone call her name to see Lee running up to her. He panted slightly after he reached her, then grinned.

"Oh, hi, Lee," Sakura said, smiling at him. "You want something?"

"I heard rumors about some magical items appearing in Konoha," he replied. "Since you are the Hokage's pupil, I thought that you would be the best person to ask if this was true or not."

Sakura wondered if she should tell him, then mentally shrugged. She had been given no order to keep it a secret. She grinned slyly at Lee. "Don't you dare blink, or you'll miss something," she said, reaching into her pocket and touching the ring.

"I will keep my eyes peeled," Lee vowed, standing up straighter and saluting her.

Sakura slipped the ring on her pinky, felt the rush of energy and another burst of light-headedness, a bit stronger this time, and turned invisible quickly.

Lee gaped at the place where she had stood, now appearing to be empty air. "Sakura?"

He suddenly twisted around, probably thinking she had simply moved quicker than the eye could follow, as he had the ability to do with his leg weights off.

Sakura giggled. "I'm right here, Lee."

Lee quickly turned back towards her, but his vision slid past her, not able to see her. "Where?"

"Here!" Sakura laughed again and tugged the ring back off. She nearly fell, losing her sense of balance for a fraction of a second, then it passed, only leaving her slightly more drained than she had been when she left the laboratory.

Lee gaped again, then broke into a wide grin, finally getting it. "That is amazing, Sakura! You became invisible!"

Sakura grinned and nodded, holding up the ring. "I'm testing the new magical items for Lady Tsunade. So far, I've only done the ring of invisibility, but there are three more items I'll go back to test out later."

"Are friends permitted to watch?" Lee asked. "And perhaps bring back a souvenir?"

Sakura smiled. "I could probably get it to where you could watch, but don't get your hopes up about bringing anything back with you."

"ALRIGHT!" Lee yelled determinedly. "I shall train especially hard for the rest of the day to prove myself worthy of an item of magic! If I do not get anything magical tomorrow, I will work even harder to make up for my lack of worth!"

Sakura sweatdropped as Lee continued on pointlessly, though it was rather amusing. Then, with a quick farewell to her, Lee raced off in the direction of his favorite training spot.

Sakura sighed and shook her head, chuckling somewhat in spite of herself. Lee never changed. She hadn't even told him when she would be going in tomorrow to try the second thing.

She held up the ring into the sunlight and watched it sparkle. Every jutsu had a drawback, even if it was something as common as using up chakra. If this ring of invisibility was any example, all magic had a drawback as well.

What would happen tomorrow when she tried on what looked like a common earring?

* * *

**So yeah, these chapters will probably be shorter than most, if not all, of my one-shots so far. Unless I get a huge burst of creativity and don't stop when I should to keep these chapters roughly the same length. xD;**


	3. Earring

**Okay, so this is about twice the size of the last two, but who's complaining? xD ****The earring in this story was pretty complicated. This chapter went through much more editing than the last two in order to get it the way I wanted... o_O**

**Anyways, here ya go; enjoy! ;D**

* * *

Sakura entered the room with the magical items again, once more hooked up to tons of monitors. She glanced over at the one-way window. She couldn't see through it any more than she could last time, but this time she knew at least one person on the other side – Lee.

He had woken her up at the crack of dawn, insisting they get an early start. It took some effort, but she had managed to persuade him to let her get dressed and have breakfast first, _then_ go to the lab. It wasn't hard to see how excited he was about this whole thing.

"Go, Sakura!" Lee's voice sounded loudly over the speakers used so the scientists could communicate with her. Sakura couldn't decide whether to cringe at the volume or laugh at the trouble he was probably giving the scientists in order to get control of the microphone, or whatever they used to talk to her in the room. "Show your youthf—"

He broke off and the background noise of a small scuffle followed. She could only imagine what the scientists were going through trying to get him away from the microphone.

"Lee, just watch – quietly, so I can start!" Sakura called, hoping he could hear her.

Seconds later, a different, exasperated voice told her, "Please proceed, Miss Haruno."

Sakura sighed and picked up the earring. "Like the ring, it's kind of cool when I first pick it up. But again, that's normal for just about any jewelry sitting out in a room like this."

The earring was ring-shaped, nothing special. Except, at the bottom, it had three notches with symbols running around it and they seemed to be able to be turned slightly. Next to the notches was a tiny button. Sakura wondered if that had an effect on what it did. She carefully tried it on.

She had only recently gotten her ears pierced, at Lady Tsunade's suggestion that wearing earrings would add a nice touch to her appearance. Now Sakura subconsciously wondered if this was what Lady Tsunade had had planned all along.

"Nothing is happening yet. I'm going to try pressing the button on it," Sakura commented, and did so.

Instantly, a flood of noises nearly deafened her.

"Hah!" she gasped, and immediately turned it off.

She thought she heard Lee call her name worriedly, but it could have just been her ringing ears playing tricks on her. Though it was possible that the microphone had picked up his voice so she really could hear it.

But that was beside the point. And the point was her mission – the earring.

She rubbed her head and began talking again. "I guess that was the on-switch. I could hear a ton of things going on, but it was all mixed up. I couldn't separate any of the sounds. My head hurts something awful and my ear is ringing."

She removed the earring and studied the notches on it. "Here's hoping this stuff controls the volume and the like."

Out of cautious curiosity, Sakura carefully pressed the button on the earring again now that it was off her ear, prepared to turn it back off again should it still be excruciatingly and painfully loud. She couldn't hear anything at all. She pressed the button to turn it off again, though, just to be safe.

"I don't hear anything when I'm just holding it. I guess it has to be worn as a normal earring to work. I'm turning this notch with, I guess they're numbers, on it to something lower. This next one has different strange shapes on it; I guess I'll leave it where it is. The one beside it has dots – no, circles. Some are so small they look like dots, some are bigger. I'm turning it to the smallest one."

She slowly, almost reluctantly, replaced the earring. "I'm turning it on again." She pressed the button.

Again, she was met with a flood of sounds, but it wasn't quite as overwhelming as the first time, and now she could distinguish the different ones and somehow know where each sound came from, and who was making it.

"I can hear you making notes about everything I'm saying, and everything these monitors are telling you. Lee, I can hear you pacing. Naruto just ran by the building, talking to himself about Ichiraku ramen. Several normal citizens are also wandering around near the building, talking to each other about different things."

Sakura continued listing the things she heard, getting farther away from the building until she reached the borders of Konoha.

"A ninja patrolling the border just yawned. A dog near the gate is scratching himself while the guards near him are talking about a mission they recently had." She paused for a moment, then continued, "There are new sounds since I've started. I could tell you every one. But I can't hear past the borders of the village. As for how I feel, I've still got my headache from before, though my ear is feeling better. I don't feel any sort of energy the way I did yesterday. I can just hear more, a lot more, but it feels natural, like I could do it all day."

She fell silent for a moment, waiting. She could hear the scientists whispering to each other, and she knew what they were saying. She was also able to predict the moment that voice sounded again into the room to tell her, "Thank you, Miss Haruno. Try messing with the notches once more."

Sakura nodded and reached a hand up to her ear, going off sense of touch rather than take it off to examine it again. "I'm moving the first notch up one." She slightly winced instinctively when the sounds became louder, then moved it back down to where it was. "That seems to control the volume. Now I'm nudging the second one up one, the one with the different shapes." She started in surprise when the flow of voices suddenly changed. "It's letting me listen somewhere else. It's a place with ninja as well, it seems."

She frowned, trying to figure out where she was. "I can tell it's a village similar to Konoha, and I think I can tell where in the village each sound is coming from, but—"

She stopped suddenly, finding a familiar voice. "Gaara is talking with Kankuro about a mission they're getting ready to go on. Temari just entered the room they're in and asked if they were ready. This must be Suna. Maybe the second notch controls in which village you can hear?"

She shrugged, then continued. "I'm turning it back to Konoha." The familiar sounds came back. "Now I'm turning the last notch, the one with the circles, some so small they look like just dots. I'm moving it up one."

The sounds didn't change. At first Sakura thought nothing happened, but then she realized something. "There was no difference made to the sounds I was already hearing, but now I can hear _more_ sounds, outside of the village, like in nearby surrounding towns. One town has a festive mood going on, while another has just finished what I think sounds like a funeral. In another town, someone is muttering to himself that he's going to be late to work if his wife doesn't step on it."

She listed more sounds she heard in the surrounding towns and cities, then stopped after a while. "I suppose that means the third notch makes it so you can hear farther distances. But it's not overwhelming. Somehow I can hear everything going on and can distinguish each sound."

Sakura decided to stop there, feeling she had done her job for the day. If the scientists wanted her to do more, they would tell her.

She could hear them whispering to each other again. Lee's footsteps stopped just on the other side of the one-way window, apparently eager if he could get a magical item.

"Thank you, Miss Haruno, once more. Please describe to us if you feel anything as you take off the earring, then you may leave," came the voice over the speakers in the room.

Sakura nodded and obediently took off the earring. "The sudden silence is kind of a shock, after so many noises before," she began, "but other than the headache it gave me at the start, I don't feel anything else. May I keep this, too?"

"No," the voice said firmly.

Sakura had suspected that would be the answer, from their conversation just a few seconds earlier, but she sighed dejectedly as she replaced the earring, onto the table.

She exited the room and was immediately joined by Lee, who looked even more dejected at not getting anything magical. They left the lab together.

"Lee," Sakura began, about to explain to him why the scientists wouldn't want to give him a magic thing. Lee cut her off.

"All right! I did not get a magic item, so now I will run around the village one hundred times, fifty of them on my hands! And if I cannot do that, it will be one hundred kicks!" he said, more to himself than to her, his eyes burning with passion.

He saluted her goodbye, flipped himself over to walk on his hands, and took off.

Sakura smiled and shook her head. No, Lee would never change. And that was a good thing.


	4. Ino

**And now this chapter is back to the seven hundred to eight hundred-something words that the first two chapters had... Enjoy anyways! xD;**

**Anyways, it winds up being Sakura just chatting again! Let me know if you think I got her relationship with Ino about right. I get the feeling I made her act different here than in _Devotion_ and _Devoted_, but then again, Sakura wasn't there during that mission.**

**Anyways anyways, I also don't have a specific point in time in mind that this is going on, so if their relationship changes depending on how far along in the two series it is, then just go with whatever's closest to how they're acting here, I guess. ^^'**

* * *

Once Lee left, Sakura decided to grab some lunch and just go for a walk with no particular route in mind. After debating for a moment, she headed towards the Ichiraku ramen bar. Maybe Naruto would still be there.

"Welcome, miss!" Teuchi greeted her as she took a seat. "What can I get you?"

Sakura smiled back and placed her order. Naruto wasn't here anymore, but the piles of dirty dishes said that she had probably just missed him.

"Well, look who's here!" Ino greeted Sakura almost sarcastically as she entered. "What have you been up to lately, Billboard-brow?"

Sakura gave her a murderous grin. "Nothing I'd be willing to tell you, Ino-pig."

"May I help you, miss?" Ayame interrupted before a fight could take place.

Ino ignored Sakura then for a few minutes as she decided what to order, then she took a seat and turned back to Sakura. "It doesn't matter if you tell me or not, because I already know," she said smugly. "I hear you've been forced to go to a lab each day to get experimented on by those wacky scientists with magical powers. Lee had to go with you today to keep them from doing anything lethal to you."

"What!" Sakura shrieked.

"It's true, though, right?"

"As if! I _volunteered_, for your information. And they're not experimenting on _me,_ they're experimenting on magical accessories that suddenly turned up in Konoha!" Sakura seethed.

"Magical accessories?" Ino echoed, that phrase grabbing her attention.

Sakura snorted and turned back to her food.

Ino glared at her. "Spill, Forehead! What's really going on?"

Sakura took her time to answer, just to drive Ino nearly to the point of insanity.

"A ring that makes the wearer invisible and an earring that makes the wearer able to hear anything, anywhere," she said finally, dropping her voice low to put emphasis on her statement.

Ino's eyes sparkled, no doubt thinking of all she could accomplish if she had them. "Are they handing them out to shinobi – or, more importantly, kunoichi?"

Sakura grinned, mirroring the smugness Ino had displayed minutes before. "_One_ kunoichi only. Me."

She finished the meal, paid for it, and walked away slowly. She listened carefully and was satisfied to hear sounds of Ino quickly finishing her own meal, tossing money at the owner, and leaving as well. Within seconds, Ino had grabbed Sakura's arm.

"When do you go next? If you think you're just going to be given this stuff without someone else to try and get it instead... You. Are. Dead. Wrong," she hissed.

Sakura grinned slyly. "Dawn tomorrow. Don't be late," she warned, tugging her arm free and moving away for her walk. She wasn't expected until an hour after dawn, maybe even later if she felt like it, but Ino could wait if she was really that eager to try and get something.

"Oops," she giggled to herself, out of earshot and sight from Ino. "Not only did I accidentally tell her the wrong time, but I also forgot to mention there's no more jewelry. Next is what appears to just be a cookie."

* * *

***evil cackle* I've kind of got an idea as to what's going to happen tomorrow when Sakura and Ino go so Sakura can test out the cookie thing. I'll have to work out the details first, though, to see if it'll really work out or not. xD;**


	5. Cookie

**I should probably forewarn you before you read: This chapter and the next, and _maybe_ a couple others until this day ends is and will be in Ino's PoV, since I wasn't sure how to make it work from Sakura's. Enjoy! =3**

* * *

Ino positioned herself along the route Sakura would be taking when she went to the lab. She had been up and ready to head out before the sun even rolled out of bed, determined to overtake Sakura before she reached the lab.

Ten minutes passed. Twenty. Sakura didn't show.

Half an hour went by. Ino yawned and leaned back against a wall.

A quarter of an hour, and still no sign of Sakura.

Ino was livid by the time she realized she'd been waiting for an hour. That lying little troll with the massive forehead had done this on purpose – and _NO_, Ino hadn't _JUST_ figured it out. She _hadn't_ fallen for it completely or anything.

Whatever. Her undercover mission meant that she couldn't take any chances. Ino _would_ have a magical and stylish accessory before the day was over, or she would follow Lee and Gai around for a full day and keep up with them or pass out trying.

Before she had time to wonder if that was such a good promise to make, Sakura came into view. Ino rapidly did the hand motions and held out her hands in the position to do her Mind Transfer Jutsu.

In seconds, she had taken control of Sakura's body. She grinned mischievously, picked up her own body, and propped it up in a dark alley that few visited. Hopefully it would stay there unharmed until she got back.

Once at the lab, the scientists attached all sorts of instruments to her. It was definitely uncomfortable, but Ino vowed not to let it bother her. Then they pushed her into a large room.

Ino took in the surroundings before taking a single step farther. The walls and floor and ceiling were all painted white. Lights attached to the ceiling made it almost as bright as being outdoors. There was a one-way window looking into the room near the door she had just come through. And in the center of the room was a table. Ino cautiously approached it.

A cookie and a glass of orange juice sat on the table. Where were the magical items? Maybe the scientists would toss it in through the door now that she was away from it or something. Or maybe there was a hidden compartment in the room somewhere.

Ino waited.

Finally, a voice came over some speakers in the room. "Well, Miss Haruno? We would appreciate it if you would begin."

Ino made a face at the window where they probably were. "What am I supposed to do? Have a snack? There's nothing here!"

"The cookie. Bite it, and just like the last two days, tell us exactly what you feel when the magic begins to take hold." The voice sounded slightly irritated at her, but how was she supposed to...?

Oh. Sakura had obviously been told to do the same thing each time she came. Ino gave herself a mental facepalm for not extricating more details from Sakura yesterday.

"Isn't there any more jewelry I could try out for you first and maybe take it home as payment for doing so well?" Ino asked, wrinkling her nose at the cookie.

"No."

Ino huffed slightly, then picked up the cookie and took a small bite. She wouldn't explode, would she?

"Well, for one thing, you couldn't get normal chocolate chip cookies? My mom's _burnt_ cookies that taste better than this," Ino said, remembering they had asked her to tell them everything she was feeling. Suddenly she doubled over, gagging.

"Aaaah, is this poison or something? It's giving me a stomach-ache that's spreading through my body." Sakura's body. And since Ino was in it, her body would be getting the same treatment. This wasn't in the brochure.

"I feel like every muscle in my body is tightening. Why is that table shrinking? No, wait, I'm growing! Ow, no wonder it hurts!" Ino cringed again. In a few minutes, her head hit the ceiling. A minute later, though it felt like hours, Ino felt the pain lessen.

"Oh," she gasped. "I think it's done. The pain is going away. It still hurts, but not as badly. How tall have I become?"

She sat down heavily so she wouldn't have to be crouched over, cursing herself for ever having put this stupid plan into action. She had better get something like that earring or ring Sakura had mentioned earlier. There was no way she would survive a day trying to keep up with Lee and Gai.

It took a while, but the voice came back again and answered her. "It seems you grew about a foot each minute, so you're probably about nine or ten feet tall by now."

The guy was probably wishing the room was taller so he could shove in a mega-tape-measurer to see exactly how tall she was.

"Get me back to normal," she demanded, hating Sakura at the moment.

"We can't."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop twenty degrees.

"So... I'm stuck like this?" she whispered, horrified.

"It may wear off."

"May?" Ino growled.

"You could always try what's in the cup, meantime," the voice innocently suggested.

"Not on your life!" Ino shrieked.

"Then, yes, _may_."

Ino glowered but didn't make any move to pick up the glass of orange juice. "Am I going to be sitting in here until it wears off, then?"

"Seeing as how you can't, at the moment, fit through the door, and we don't want our walls broken or anything, yes."

Ino groaned. This would be a long day. The cookie would never wear off fast enough.

**

* * *

**

*legasp*

**And I don't know exactly how it works, but in this fanfic, I'm making it to where Ino can't go back to her own body because it's not within sight of where she is now, or anything like that. Did I get Ino's character correct?**


	6. Shrunk

**Chapetah six is now up! And it's short cuz I'm not quite sure what to do next. xD;  
But, read on anyways. x3 I'll figure something out eventually. ^_^~**

* * *

Ino waited in the room for what felt like hours. She stared at the orange juice, each passing moment weakening her resolve not to try it.

What if it countered the cookie's effects?

Or what if it made her taller?

Sakura's outfit had managed to stretch along with her when she'd eaten the cookie, but Ino doubted the walls to the room would do the same.

Suddenly her skin felt pinched, and she found herself shrinking. About time!

Ino wasn't shrinking fast enough to suit her. She could've sworn she had shot up much more quickly than she was shrinking now.

"Miss Haruno?" the voice asked her expectantly after a few minutes.

"What?" she asked, trying not to sound annoyed.

"Are you feeling nothing at shrinking, or have you forgotten what you are here to do?"

Ino glared at the one-way window. How did Sakura put up with this? Was getting a poisoned cookie really worth it? And what had happened to the "magical accessories" part?

"It pinches. I'm hungry. _No_, I will not sample the orange juice today. I'm done shrinking now, so will you let me leave? And how about a magic accessory souvenir for having to go through that?" she said, moving towards the door.

"You took the only invisibility ring we had, and we are still not going to allow you to take the earring," the voice told her.

Ino immediately searched Sakura's pockets in the hopes that the ring was in there. No such luck. Ino had better be able to find it. She never should have promised herself to follow Gai and Lee around for a day should she not get a magical accessory. She knew she would have to carry it out or get bugged to death by it until she actually did it, regardless of the fact no one else knew and would try to hold her to it.

A few minutes later, Ino burst through the door of the lab, glad to get away from the scientists who had seemed impatient and annoyed with her as they took off the monitors. She headed straight to Sakura's house and into her room, pretending not to hear Mrs. Haruno when she called Sakura's name.

She searched the room from top to bottom, looking in drawers and underneath mattresses and in obvious places and some not-so-obvious places. Any rings she found were immediately tried on to see if they were what Ino was looking for. None were.

Sakura's mom knocked on her door and stuck her head in. "I thought I heard you get home. What are you doing in here? Lunch is on the table if you're hungry."

"Do you know what happened to the ring I brought back from a lab sometime in the last couple days?" Ino asked, avoiding the question but perking up slightly at the mention of lunch.

Mrs. Haruno wrinkled her forehead (it wasn't as big as Sakura's; Sakura must get it from her dad, then), thinking. "You brought home a ring?" she answered finally.

Ino sighed. "Never mind. I need to, uh, meet a friend for lunch – no, a mission. Sorry I can't stay. Bye!" Ino said abruptly, squeezing past Sakura's mother and exiting the house.

"Come on, Billboard Brow! Where'd you put that ring?" Ino muttered as she walked back to the place she had left her body.

Ino sighed as she reached her body, more than unwilling to go back into it without getting the ring of invisibility. Gai and Lee would run her into the ground.

**

* * *

**

It doesn't seem like she would just give up after not finding Sakura's ring very easily, does it? I thought not. xP

**Reviews are much appreciated, and ideas for what Ino should do next would be great! xD**


	7. Kunai

**Yay, another chapter! 8D It's shortish, maybe even by Scientific Magic's standards, but if I hadn't ended it where I did, I might not have found a good stopping point for a while. xD**

* * *

Ino marched determinedly to the different training spots in Konoha, hoping to find Lee in one of them. She was still in Sakura's body, not caving in to defeat yet. After a quick meal back at Sakura's house (and after having to think up an excuse as to why she was back for the lunch she had previously declined), she had come up with an idea.

Lee had gone with Sakura to the lab yesterday, and Sakura had probably told him about the day before. Maybe he would have an idea as to where Sakura had placed her invisibility ring.

She stumbled into a clearing and saw signs of recent use. Kunai and shuriken and needles and several other weapons stuck out of trees. Ino gasped suddenly as a kunai barely missed her face and instead embedded itself in the trunk of the tree next to her.

"Sakura!" The voice was Kaida's, who looked sheepish at nearly hitting her. Lee was standing several yards away from her. The two were probably training together. "Uh, sorry about that. I need to learn to watch who I'm throwing stuff at when people unintentionally sneak up on me."

Ino swallowed hard, shrugged, then turned to Lee. "Lee, do you know what I did with the ring I got from the scientists the other day?"

She saw out of the corner of her eye Kaida scowling at her suspiciously. She could get over being ignored, as she had just tried to kill Ino. Besides, so far as Kaida knew, it was Sakura that was being rude to her.

Lee looked confused, but before Ino could start to worry again about her next move, he nodded. "You gave it to me, remember?"

Sakura had done what? That girl must have been out of her mind to give it to Lee, of all people.

"I need it back now. Think you could part with it?" Ino asked.

Lee shook his head, looking confused all over again. "Why? You instructed me not to give it back to you today, until you told me that—"

His eyes widened and he clapped his hands over his mouth to keep from saying more.

What? Ino tried to think of what could be going on. There was no way Sakura could have known – even suspected – that Ino would try and take over her body today. ...Was there?

Kaida looked back and forth between them, looking as though she didn't have a clue what was going on and didn't really care so long as she could get back to handling deadly weapons and inflicting injuries soon.

An awkward silence lingered for a while. Ino tried to think of something to say to convince Lee that she was really Sakura and wanted the ring back.

She giggled.

"Of course, Lee! I was just testing you. Thanks so much for doing what I asked!" Ino said, grinning. Though, inwardly, she was seething. What was it going to take to get a magical accessory?

Lee's confusion cleared and he grinned triumphantly. "You are welcome, Sakura!"

Kaida stare was making Ino slightly uncomfortable. There was no way she could know it wasn't Sakura talking to them, but she seemed suspicious anyways. Ino ducked back out of sight and hoped she didn't look like she was too anxious to leave.

But instead of leaving the area completely, Ino stayed. Maybe Lee would tell Kaida what Sakura had told him.

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Ooo, will Ino finally wind up getting the ring? Or will the sun set before she can?  
...Don't look at me; I don't know, either! xD;

***pokes* Review, or Kaida will get chu! *nodnod***


	8. Suspicion

**Aaaaand, here ish another update, yay! 83 Enjoy, and don't forget to review! xD**

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"I am glad that I passed Sakura's test!" Ino heard Lee say happily to Kaida. Ino was stationed just out of sight of the clearing where the other two were going back to training.

Kaida snorted. "If it really _was_ Sakura," she said. Moments later, Ino heard sounds that told her Kaida and Lee had begun training again.

"What are you saying, Kaida? Did you not see her clearly?"

Ino scowled. There was no way Kaida could have figured it out.

"I saw her, but she didn't seem much like herself. I don't know what reason they would have, but maybe it was someone using the transformation jutsu?"

Ino silently let out a sigh of relief. Even if Kaida didn't think it was really Billboard Brow, at least she hadn't been able to tell that it had been the mind transfer jutsu used.

"What was that ring you two were talking about?" Kaida asked next.

"It turns the wearer invisible!" Lee replied, excitement apparent in his voice.

Sounds ceased for a couple minutes. It took all Ino's restraint not to try and look at what was happening. Then, Kaida spoke again.

"Impressive," she commented. "It's not a jutsu? I've heard rumors of some magical items, but I haven't really believed it 'til now."

Ino glared at a tree within her line of vision, as if it was the tree's fault she couldn't see what was going on. Had Lee whispered something to Kaida Ino hadn't been able to hear? Or had Lee pulled out the ring and tried it on?

The second seemed more likely. And if it were true, at least now Ino knew where to find the ring. Lee had it with him. Even if she wasn't sure how she would get it from him, it certainly helped her to try and plan what to do next.

Conversation and grunts and clashing of metal against metal followed after a moment, but Ino didn't pay much attention as she tried to think of her next move. She did try to keep an ear cocked towards them, though, in case they spoke anymore useful details.

Lee hadn't told Kaida the one thing Ino really wanted to hear, but it couldn't be helped. She mentally ran through a list of possible approaches.

After Kaida wore him down, Ino could try attacking him directly and taking the ring by force. ...No, even tired, Lee would be difficult if not impossible to defeat.

She could try charming him into releasing the ring, though it'd be difficult to explain why she wouldn't just tell him the words Sakura had told him earlier.

She could flirt and just take the ring when he wasn't paying attention. But Ino hadn't the slightest idea where he was keeping the ring. It wasn't like his outfit had pockets. Ino had no clue where he even kept the notebook and pencil he used to jot down advice from Gai-sensei.

Or Ino could ask him to show it to her and then just swipe it and run off like she was crazy. It wasn't like she had her reputation to worry about while she was in Sakura's body. If he tried chasing her, she could transform into someone else and lose him.

Ino sighed. Was this really the best she could come up with? The last one probably had the highest chance of succeeding, but they all seemed like pretty pathetic ideas to her.

"Sakura?"

Ino nearly jumped out of her – er, Sakura's – skin. "Lee, you scared me!" she gasped.

He was standing at her side, looking at her with a puzzled frown. Kaida wasn't in sight until, out of the corner of her eye, Ino saw her going around picking up the different weapons that had been scattered.

"What are you doing?" Lee asked.

"Uh..." _Think quick, Ino!_

"I just... Forgot what it was I was supposed to tell you. I really do need the ring back, but I can't remember what it was I said I'd tell you. And, um, I didn't know if you'd believe me if I told you this, which was why I said I was only testing you before." Getting the feeling she was rambling, Ino clamped her mouth shut.

Lee scratched his head, trying to decide what to do.

Kaida appeared next to Lee and raised an eyebrow at Ino. "Prove it."

Ino narrowed her eyes at Kaida, wishing she were more trusting. "Why don't you believe me?"

Kaida half-grinned. "If you prove you're really Sakura, I will believe you."

"And how do I know you're the real Kaida?" Ino countered.

Kaida rolled her eyes, then seemed to make a decision. She faced the clearing and did some rapid hand motions, then blew. Ino could almost see the air shiver and quickly make its way through the air to the first solid thing it found. A tree across the clearing rapidly grew an icy coat.

Lee watched the whole thing silently, seeming unsure whether to believe Ino was Sakura or someone else. Were it not for Kaida, Ino would probably have been able to convince Lee to give her the ring before then.

"Happy now? And what on earth would I stand to gain by lying?" Kaida demanded. She shook her head without waiting for an answer and turned to Lee. "Up to you to believe her or not. I need to go to meet Shikamaru for a late lunch."

Ino watched her leave, then turned back to Lee. "How can I prove it to you?"

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She's so close, soooo clooose! *legasp*

**...Okay, this day needs to end. I'm starting to wish I could write in Sakura's PoV again... xD;  
I'll try not to rush it, though. ;3 *tries ot think about what to do next* xP**

***poke* _Review!_ 8D  
And, if you can, supply me with ideas? I don't really know what to put in the next chapter... x/**


	9. Convincing

**Finally, an update! ^^' Sorry for the wait; I ran into a bit of writer's block (*gives it ebil glare*), but now I've got this chapter finished, as well as part of the next. *gasp* Go me! xD**

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"Sakura," Lee began.

Ino, still stuck in Sakura's body, glanced over at him, still keeping one eye on where she was going. The two were walking around Konoha, and Ino was being driven crazy at how fast the sun was beginning to set.

"Tell me, why is it that you need the ring back so urgently?"

Ino quickly came up with an excuse, and sighed to put more emphasis on it. "Those slave-driving scientists want it back. To study it more, I guess, even though I'd like to be able to keep it a while longer."

"Right," Lee answered, making a fist in the air. "Then we shall deliver it together!"

Ino jumped, but Lee's eyes seemed too full of fire for him to notice much. "Actually, I have to do it. Alone. Sorry, Lee."

Lee looked back at her again, the flames burning down. "Why is that?"

"They, um, don't want any more visitors interfering with their work, and Lady Tsunade says that what they say goes," Ino explained, hating that she had to keep track of each new lie she told. It was such a hassle.

"Oh, I see," Lee said, looking down at the ground.

_Hurry up and give it to me!_ Ino shouted silently.

"Very well, then!" Lee continued, looking back up. "I will bear my banishment with pride!" He patted a part of his outfit, and a strange look crossed over his face. He twisted this way and that, looking all over himself.

"What's wrong?" Ino asked, getting a very bad feeling. He didn't…

"I cannot find it," Lee moaned. "Forgive me, Sakura; I have failed you."

Ino felt as though she were buried in a rockslide, though there was nothing visible on top of her. "Did it fall out while you were practicing with Kaida?" she asked, unable to keep desperation out of her tone of voice.

"That is probably what happened!" Lee gave a quick nod. "To the training area, then! If we cannot make it in ten seconds, it is three hundred pushups!"

Lee sped off before his words even registered with Ino. Then she exploded, "Three hundred WHAAAT?" She ran after him as quickly as she could.

About five minutes later, Lee was quickly counting as he did fast pushups. Ino was beside him, going much more slowly.

"One, two; one, two; one, two; one, two. I suppose it was foolish to think that we could arrive at our destination in ten seconds," Lee admitted, just reaching the one hundred and fifty mark.

"Ya think?" Ino tried to keep her frustration and anger in check and she did her fifteenth pushup. He didn't honestly expect her to do three hundred, did he?

"One, two; one, two; one, two; three hundred!" Lee sat up when he had finished, and Ino did the same, pretending she had done all three hundred as well. Lee had hardly broken a sweat, but Ino was breathing pretty heavily.

"Now let us search for the ring of invisibility!" Lee declared, running all around the clearing on his hands and knees, searching. Ino caught her breath and began searching as well, though much more meticulously than Lee.

"I found it!" Lee exclaimed.

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*legasp* Cliffhanger! Mwahahaha. xD  
Anyways, I think next chapter should be the last in Ino's PoV, at least for a while. ;3  
Don't forget to leave a review! ^_^~


	10. Disappointment

**:o Two updates in a single day? Yes, it appears so! xD;  
I hate cliffhangers just as much as most other people, so I couldn't really stand to leave it unfinished for too long. xD**

**Okay, so this is Ino's last chapter (and it's pretty short again)! For the moment. And only from her PoV. She'll probably appear here and there in several other chapters. xP**

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"I found it!" Lee exclaimed. Ino rushed over to him in record time.

"You did? That's great, Lee!"

"Yes." Ino was surprised to hear happy tears in the tone of voice he used. Then she saw what he was holding.

"The shuriken Gai-sensei gave me for my birthday; I thought I had lost it about a week ago. OH, YOU HAVE COME BACK TO ME, MY BELOVED SHURIKEN!" Lee stood and held it into the air. Waves crashed dramatically in the background, adding even more water to stream down Lee's face.

"Leeeeeeeee," Ino growled, giving him the evil eye – or perhaps _eyes_ would be more accurate.

Lee sweatdropped as he realized he had gotten off task. "Um, right. I apologize, Sakura." He got back down on his hands and knees and began searching again. Ino dropped to the ground again as well and continued searching, the sun getting low in the west.

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Ino glared at the stupid moon, which had risen as the sun fell without giving Ino enough time to find the ring. She dreaded the next day. Training with Lee and Gai-sensei would kill her.

She found her body again, miraculously untouched for the entire day. She supposed _some_ things had gone right for her. But it was so annoying to be as close as she was and yet not find it.

Reluctantly, she did another handsign and said, "Release!" She was back in her own body and quickly leaving Sakura before her rival had had time to come to her own senses.

* * *

Sakura wobbled on her feet for a few moments before catching her balance and standing up straight. What had happened? She had some very hazy idea of what she had done that day, but no details came to mind. Had she been to the scientists that day?

She shook her head. "If I haven't been, it's probably too late now, judging from the looks of the moon and stars."

Footsteps sounded and Sakura whirled around. Kaida leaned against the wall.

"So, feeling better?" she asked.

"I was sick?" Sakura asked in return.

Kaida smiled. "I saw the last bit. It seems Ino used the mind transfer jutsu. Catch." She fished something out of her pocket and tossed it to Sakura, who caught it and looked to see what it was. The invisibility ring.

"But I gave this to Lee," Sakura said, confused, looking up.

Somehow the part about Ino taking control of her body wasn't too surprising. After all, she had done it before. And Sakura supposed she had been right to let Lee hang on to the ring for her today, though she didn't know how Kaida had gotten a hold of it.

"That was what Ino was after. You can yell at me if you want for swiping it from Lee without his realizing, but," Kaida smiled ruefully, "Lee can be too trusting, especially when it comes to you."

Sakura closed her fingers around the jewelry piece. "Um, no. Actually, thank you for keeping it from her." She hesitated only a moment before asking, "Will you fill me in on what I supposedly did today?"

Kaida nodded and grinned. "I wasn't around for most of it, but I can tell you about what I was there for."

Sakura smiled in return. Tomorrow, she would be eating the cookie, right? No, that had been today. If Ino had even gone to the scientists.

Sakura shrugged mentally, figuring she would find out when tomorrow came. Otherwise, she would be drinking the orange juice.

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If the number of items Sakura is to test out is any way to tell, this story is probably nearing the end. ;-;  
Or maybe not.

***shrug* I guess we'll just have to see what happens, right? xD;**

**Don't forget to review, or else! Or else I'll make Ino take over your body and review for you! *glares***


	11. Juice

**Okay, last magic item! ^^  
Overall, I personally think this is a rather shortish and boring chapter, especially in comparison with others of Scientific Magic, but that's up to the reader to decide, right? ;P Enjoy!**

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Sakura suspiciously picked up the glass of orange juice, once again back in the scientists' lab. It seemed Ino _had_ eaten the cookie yesterday, or at least part of it. It lay on the table, one bite taken out of it. Sakura drank some of the drink.

"Nothing seems to be happening so far. Waiting, waiting..." She didn't want to sound like a broken record, so she paused for a few seconds. Then, "I feel a tingling sensa—" She broke off and doubled over, gagging.

"The juice left behind a sharp aftertaste," she choked out. "And I mean sharp literally. My stomach's feeling pretty awful, too. My skin feels like it's getting pinched all over. Owww, it hurts!"

She fell to her knees, one hand on her throat, the other on her stomach. The ground continued getting slowly closer, even after she was sure she stopped moving. "What's happening?" she asked, trying not to panic. Had Ino gone through the same thing with the cookie? Sakura hoped so. It was what Ino deserved for trying to steal.

"You're shrinking, Miss Haruno, just as you grew yesterday. Hold still so we can estimate how quickly you're shrinking, please."

Of course. No 'Are you okay?' or anything. Sakura didn't matter to them. Nonetheless, she held still as best she could, wishing the pain away.

Fifteen minutes later, Sakura lay on her side, panting. "I think... I think it's done. The pain is receding, but it was there for what felt like so long that it can't completely leave so quickly."

Sakura sat up and groaned. Everything looked so much bigger. "How quickly did I shrink?"

"About three inches per minute, it seems."

Sakura groaned again. "And how will I get back to normal?"

"If it's like the cookie, then in a few hours, you should return to normal. Or you could attempt to eat just enough of the cookie to return yourself to normal."

Sakura hesitated, staring up at the table. She supposed she could use her perfect chakra control to climb one of the legs to get up to the table and find the cookie, but she wasn't in any hurry to repeat the pain from the juice. And logic said that the cookie had hurt just as the orange juice had.

"Maybe. If I don't return to normal soon, maybe," Sakura answered softly.

So she waited. And while she waited, she had time to think over what had happened the day before when Ino had taken control of her body.

The scientists said that the cookie had made her (or Ino) grow, then after a few hours, she had returned to normal.

Sakura almost laughed to think that had Ino taken some of the orange juice, she could have returned to normal, or almost normal, more quickly. Almost. If she told Kaida, the kunoichi would probably laugh to tears.

The day before was still mostly a blank, though Kaida had told her some of the stuff Ino had done when with Lee sometime after noon, as well as just after sunset. Perhaps Lee would fill her in on more of it if she could hunt him down once she regained her normal size.

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*hypnotises you into clicking "Review This Chapter" and leaving a review*  
... *shifty eyes* ...You saw nothing. 0:-)


	12. Recompense

***bows* A thousand apologies for not having updated for so long. For a while, I couldn't think of what to put into this chapter, and then I never got around to actually typing it up.**

**But, here it is now! 83 This chapter is dedicated to mah absolutely awesome friend and writer Neji and TenTen 4ever. You got chur Neji and Tenten wish! xD Admittedly, there's probably little or no NejiTen stuff in it, but it does have those characters. ;3**

**Enjoy!**

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Sakura flexed her fingers, watching her hands grow and trying to bury all the pain in growing back to normal in that one gesture. It had taken a long while, and the hurt from shrinking had nearly completely faded when it had intensified again and she found herself growing again.

"It hurts, just the same as before," Sakura managed to get out. "But without the sharp taste of the drink lingering." She made a noise that sounded halfway between a grunt and a groan, then held her breath as though that would ease her pain.

Half an hour later, Sakura walked out of the lab, her skin still sensing the effects of the orange juice slightly, but nowhere near as much as it had hurt while she was changing size.

After debating for a minute or two, Sakura headed towards the area where she thought Team Gai normally trained, wanting to speak with Lee.

* * *

"Rotation!"

Sakura was still several yards away from the clearing in the woods when she heard Neji and the clashing of metal-on-metal. Neji and Tenten were probably training together again while Gai devoted more of his attention to Lee, Sakura guessed.

"I can't keep this up any longer." Sakura entered the clearing just in time to hear Tenten say that and then sit down hard with her back against a tree. She and Neji both looked as though they had been training hard for quite a while.

"We'll take a short break, then," Neji agreed.

It was then that Tenten noticed Sakura. She smiled tiredly and waved. "What brings you here, Sakura?" she asked.

"I'm actually looking for Lee," Sakura said.

"Oh, he and Gai-sensei and Ino are around here somewhere," Tenten informed her. "But they've been moving around different places so much, it's hard to say where they are exactly right now."

"Ino's here, too?" Sakura asked, surprised.

"She showed up this morning almost as soon as we got here and asked if Gai-sensei and Lee would help her train," Neji said, his expression skeptical, as though he could hardly believe himself that that had happened.

Just then, Gai burst into sight, soon followed by Lee. Nearly a minute later, Ino appeared, looking as though she had run a marathon – which, knowing the two more energetic members of Team Gai, she probably had.

"All right, now who can recite for me the top five ways to win a battle?" Gai exclaimed.

Lee whipped out his notebook and flipped through it quickly. Ino fought for breath and stared at Gai as though he was insane.

"That depends on so many different variables," Ino puffed.

"I have it, Gai-sensei!" Lee cried. He flipped his notebook closed and tucked it back out of sight, then spouted out a list.

"Right you are, both of you!" Gai said energetically, giving them both a thumbs up and his famous sparkling grin. He continued to lecture about how each of their answers had been correct, though different, then ended with, "And now, as a reward for getting the right answer, we will encircle Konoha one hundred times in record speed, instead of the punishing fifty! Off we go!"

"Yes, sir, Gai-sensei!" Lee saluted him immediately.

"We've gotta WHAT?" Ino complained. Gai and Lee were off like rockets, and Ino soon jogged after them.

Sakura laughed helplessly until she had to lean against a tree to keep herself standing.

"Ridiculous," Neji sighed under his breath.

"I guess we'll never know why she's putting herself through this," Tenten said, shaking her head. "But if she makes it to the end of the day without getting hospitalized for over-exerting herself it'll be a miracle."

"Very few people I'm sure could keep up with them," Sakura agreed, having finally been able to compose herself.

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Okay, first things first: Ino is awesome. Just because she's being cast as a sort of antagonist in SM doesn't mean that's how I always think of her. ;3

**And now, you know what I'mma say next, right? Review! xD**

**EDIT: Okay, I'm not really sure what to do with the story now... :/ Should I continue it or find an ending? I kind of have an idea for a continuation, but...  
Anyways, there's a poll on my profile. Please vote and lemme know what you think, kay? =3**


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